Culter took full advantage of Hermes’ fixture being postponed, moving five points clear at the top of the McBookie.com Premier League thanks to a 6-1 home win over Ellon United.
Braces from Ryan Smart, Cammy Fraser and Ross Clark made it a comfortable afternoon at Crombie Park.
Smart opened the scoring after nine minutes, only for Calum Tremaine to equalise for Ellon two minutes later.
Shortly afterwards, though, Fraser restored the home side’s advantage and further counters from Clark and Smart saw Culter go in at the interval with a healthy 4-1 lead.
Three minutes into the second half, Fraser fired number five and Clark completed the scoring after 62 minutes.
Culter boss Lee Youngson was satisfied with his team’s display, saying: “The first 60 minutes was pleasing.
“The first half started very open and both teams carried a threat. It was a great finish by Smarty to put us one up and then, against the run of play, Ellon scored to pull them back to level terms.
“We had a good spell after this and stormed into a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Cammy and Ross.
“Ellon then had a good chance to pull one back, but it was a good save from Peter Tait in our goal. From then on in, we controlled the game and created quite a few good opportunities, Smarty adding his second to give us a convincing lead at half time.
“After the break, we started well again and, within a quarter of an hour, the game was finished with Cammy and Ross both grabbing their second goals.
“We made five substitutions with half an hour to go and that always affects the rhythm of the game, but it was pleasing to give 16 players game time.
“I felt in general we looked quick and dynamic again going forward, Ellon came and had a go, so it made it an entertaining game despite the scoreline.”
Youngson praised the visitors, backing them to recover from what was a heavy defeat, while also insisting Culter won’t get too high over their current strong league position, saying: “Ellon will bounce back, they’ve got a lot of good players and it’s been a fantastic season so far for them.
“I’m clearly pleased with the position were in, we’ve taken 37pts from 39 this season, but, with 13 games to go, there’s another 39pts to lose, so a long way to go for everyone.
“We’ve two tricky away games coming up – Nairn and East End away in January is always tough, but if we do the basics well and play forward quick like we did today, we will be fine.
“Performance-wise, Ross Clark was the best player on the park again, that’s been a reoccurring topic for us this season – he’s been outstanding.
“The whole front line played well and defensively we handled things fine for large spells.
“Luke Fawcett came on at left-back for his debut and had a great 30 minutes, he’s an exciting prospect for sure. Also, I thought Ben McGregor was outstanding, especially in the first half.”
